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Monday, October 08, 2012

Sisterhood

Growing up, one of my favorite stories was Lisa and Lottie, a book that was made (twice!) into the movie "The Parent Trap."
The story of the two girls, who meet at summer camp and discover that they are twin sisters separated during infancy by their divorcing parents, thrilled me no end. Imagine! Perhaps somewhere I - like those lucky girls in the book - could find one of those oh-so-mythical creatures - a SISTER - waiting for me. I dreamed that a sister would be a bosom buddy, a pal, someone whose innermost thoughts would be just like mine. We could do girl things together, instead of my having to play chess with my older brother, who only played with me to hone his own skills at that vile game. A sister! If I had a sister, we could do each other's hair. We could share clothes. We could be FRIENDS.

And there certainly wouldn't be any chess.

Disney's new film Tinker Bell and Secret of the Wings was made for every little girl who has longed for a sister of her own. Granted, we have no such situation in this house. With 3 boys and 3 girls, we have ample sibling interactions of every kind. So I wondered if my girls would still be captivated by this fantasy of 2 fairies who discover that they are long-separated twins ("born from the same laugh," as the movie puts it - apparently, the fairy facts of life are not nearly as awkward to explain as are human ones).

Would Rachel and Susie identify with the fairies' delight upon their finding each other? Or would my girls wonder what all the fuss was about, knowing - as they do - that life with a sister isn't always all it's cracked up to be?

Anywhoo, Rachel (10) loved the many twists and turns of the plot; and (naturally, considering her checkered past) she enjoyed watching Tinker Bell and her new-found sister breaking the rules just to visit each other. The devotion! The derring-do!

Susie (7), on the other hand, wasn't able to focus on the FUN! SISTERS! part of the movie, as she was too worried about whether or not the fairies would be able to save the fairy dust tree. Also, her father shows her "The 3 Stooges" way too much; so I think she was waiting for the part where everyone would start poking each other in the eyes.

As for myself, I was impressed by the quality and variety of the character's voices. Animated films have come a long way since I was a kid, I must say. Along with Timothy Dalton and Anjelica Huston, the cast of voices includes the woman who spoke for Ariel, long ago, in The Little Mermaid. And I was surprised to learn that an actual hairdresser designed the hair for Tinker Bell's twin sister. Slightly jealous here, actually - where's my personal hair designer when I need him?

Or maybe that's the sort of thing a sister would be good for...

And, now, to celebrate the release of Tinker Bell and Secret of the Wings, Disney has given me a “Flitterific Fairies Blue-ray™ Double Pack”, which is a Blu-Ray/DVD combo, to give away to one of my readers. To participate in the sweepstakes, please answer the question, "What does sisterhood mean to you?" in the comments on this post. Further rules are listed below. And feel free to check out the "Secret of the Wings" website: it features videos, activities, and games for your favorite fairy enthusiast.

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the
following unique term in your tweet message: #SweepstakesEntry; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post"

c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

20 comments:

What does sisterhood mean to me? I should write something nice and wonderful about how joyous it was having an older sister and a younger one. Right now though, it means that when my mother starts giving me too hard of a time about how I raise my boys, I have two other people to deflect here onto for a while. Truthfully, I love my sisters (and my mother) but other than shared family experiences (and not completely that as my younger sister is 10 years younger than me), we don't have that much in common.

My sister is 5 years older than me and we never had that kind of fun. My two brothers (one older and one younger) are closer in age, so I mostly played with them, when they weren't teasing me to the point of tears. As adults, I call my brothers' wives and talk to them on the phone occasionally; I rarely talk to my sister, although she is much closer with all of us now than she was a few years ago.I learned many years ago that friends can be closer than sisters.

As an only child, I've had to make a family as I've grown up. So for me, sisters are the small circle of friends I can call at 2 a.m. and know that no matter what, they'll answer. And then they'll give me honest answers about how silly I'm being, dry my tears, make me laugh, and send me back to bed.

Sisterhood... oh, wow. My sister and I had a really rough ride while we were growing up. It's been much better now that we're adults. It's nice to have someone to call when I need reassurance about something my mom or dad does or when I need to talk to someone who's known me since I was small. Sisterhood doesn't judge. It's a true sort of love. And I'll be honest, sometimes sisters aren't the ones that come with flesh and blood, because I've got some 'sisters from another mother' who I wouldn't give up for anything!

Growing up, sisterhood meant my younger sister should do everything I tell her (she didn't get the memo), grown up: it means someone who understands your crazy, and where it comes from. I currently have an only child, who is thrilled beyond belief to have a "big sister" for the year (exchange student living with us). Sisterhood is family: blood or made, someone who not only "gets" you, but is willing to get you: get you through the tough times, sit with you and laugh, hang out for no reason, get mad, get even, then make up.

Sisterhood to me means something I never had... The only sibling - younger brother. All cousins - boys. (I guess my brother was blessed - he had a sister!) I am very happy to have two girls who might just get what sisterhood should all be about - being each other's best friends and more. Only time will tell, but I do pray and hope...

My "sister" is in the form of my sister in law courtesy of my hubby. We are the same age. She has 3 boys and I have "4 kids and counting" I can talk/text her about anything. I often forget she is my husband's sister and have to hold back details of some private matters at times:)

I have been an RN for 14 yrs (4 days a month now) and she is just now finishing up Nursing School. We are different in so many ways...I homeschool, she public shools. I mostly stay at home now..she is gearing up to start a career as an RN...her kids are involved in tons of activities...my kids like to bulid forts and play unstructured for hours. She allows movies of all sorts and video games..no video games here.Yet I feel we are so much alike in our faith and our love for our family. I am truly Blessed she is part of my life. I never feel judged by her and I hope she feels the same about me. We don't see each other nearly enough in person, but text nearly every day for a good ten to fifteen minutes. I can even bounce stuff my in laws do that sometimes seem insensitive and she can give me insight where they are coming from. I wish I knew her as a kid!

My sisters and I are closer today as adults than in our childhood. We are spread across the country. Sisterhood means that no matter where ar move, no matter how messy and chaotic our lives get, my best friends (my sisters) are just a phone call away.

Sisterhood means having someone to call at any crazy hour (and with a 5 hour time difference, there have been lots of crazy hours!) and ask the most mundane of questions...and still be taken seriously. My big sis always listens to me. I think my 6 year old would also worry to much about the fairies saving the tree, but she loves her little sister with reckless abandon.

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About Me

6 children, 1 husband (I'm boring that way). Here are the kids by name and age, to make it easy on you:
Theo (25), Anna (23), David (19), Brian (16), Rachel (14), and Susie (11, and now taller than I am).
No pictures, no real names, as my husband is totally paranoid. In a cute sort of way, of course...